Architecture Competition MICROHOME #6 1st and Student prize winners – THE TRIER UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 1st and Student prize winners of our "MICROHOME #6" competition – Malte Terboven, Luca Ligotti, Luisa Herzog and Lukas Kunze from Germany!

We are a group of four architecture students from Trier University of Applied Sciences in Germany. We got to know and like each other during our joint studies and will complete our bachelor's degree together next year. With our project, we want to create decent housing for refugees on their way to safety.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been involved?

Most of our projects are university projects. In addition to university, we also enjoy participating in competitions ranging from micro houses to skyscrapers and urban projects. For us, the size of a project is not the primary concern. Instead, our passion lies in exploring fascinating and thought-provoking topics.

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

The role of the architect goes far beyond simply building houses. Architecture has a major impact on our society and therefore architects have a great social responsibility. In a world struggling with complex problems such as the climate crisis, global migration and social justice, we believe architects must offer solutions. Innovative thinking and the creation of outstanding designs have, in our opinion, the power to change societies and pave the way for a better, more harmonious future for all.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Our group enjoys working on interesting projects and developing new ideas together. In our opinion, participating in architectural competitions provides an invaluable platform for anyone seeking to push their creative boundaries and showcase their skills in a competitive environment. It offers an opportunity to compete with individuals from around the world and draw inspiration from their achievements.

In architectural competitions, being good is not sufficient; one must exert maximum effort to succeed. Competitions stimulate individuals to think outside the box and experiment with new approaches.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

When you look at the results of a project you haven't worked on yourself, you can gain interesting insights. However, when you participate in a competition, you are deeply involved in the task and it is much more enriching to compare your own results with those of participants from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds. These different approaches lead to an individual final solution. In this way, many different interesting ideas on the same topic are generated, opening up new perspectives and impressions.

Even though you might not win the competition, you will definitely gain a lot of inspiration and experience.